http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=53796
--- Comment #5 from Tobias Burnus <burnus at gcc dot gnu.org> 2012-06-29 10:07:10 UTC --- (In reply to comment #4) > But Fortran doesn't have unsigned integers. If the intention is to indicate > no > practical limit, then I guess the value to return is HUGE(0). And we should fill an interpretation request regarding this issue - as suggested by Richard Maine. Regarding the limit: I have to admit that I do not understand how GFORTRAN_DEFAULT_RECL is currently handled. Will it be the true upper bound, will it be extended etc.? There is a lot of special code, but that value seems to get only set for STDIN/STDOUT/STDERR. Additionally, using a special value from the allowed range askes (in principle) for trouble. Using a negative value internally for special values might make more sense - though it might require additional conditional checks (-> slower, potential sources for bugs).
